Everything and hardly nothing has changed….let me explain this seemingly stupid comment I just made. My life is still very much the same as it was before I decided to follow my dream of becoming an author and wrote the first words to Saving Rain, my debut novel, in September 2012. Inside, I feel the same, yet wonderfully changed.

What’s still the same: No one who knows me looks at me differently, and they shouldn’t; I’m just me. I love living life as uncomplicated as possible. My daughter still thinks I’m the same ole mom who takes her to school, out for milkshakes, to play dates, and who finds it necessary for her to complete her homework when she’d rather not. I still get up Monday – Friday and go to my day job, hang out with my family and friends, and live a normal day-to-day life; it’s just much busier than before.

The results of change: In person, I’m quite shy. My shyness evaporates when I write, which has made me grow as a person. My personal boundaries have expounded, my amount of sleep has drastically reduced, and I’m loving the wild ride of achieving, failing, learning, enjoying happy dances, and rolling with the punches. Lunch breaks…and every possible moment I can squeeze in between, is filled with writing or other novel related tasks. The most significant difference is the amazing people I’ve been blessed to meet, including authors, bloggers, and readers.

I used to be the queen of organization. Seriously, I had my closet color-coordinated, papers in appropriate notebooks, and my lists were well known in my family. Now, that’s been blown all to hell…but I’m okay with that. Yes, my closet is still clean, but I’m doing good to keep my clothes separated from my husband’s, much less by color. Time management has become a necessity. While I’m taking care of all the responsibilities I had before, as well as, all the new ones being an author provides, my husband has taken on the task of making sure I’m taking care of, too. He’s my balance…my gravity.

One thing I haven’t gotten used to and don’t think I ever will, is how unbelievably awesome and humbling it feels when a reader comes up to me and tells me how one of my novels touched them in some way. When a reader told me that reading Saving Rain helped her get through some tough times she was trying to overcome, it brought tears to my eyes. Moments like that make all of the amazing times, the agonizing times, and the fun and heartbreaking times, completely worthwhile.

The only change we’ve made with our home, in regards to my writing, is turning the spare room into my office. When I say office, I don’t mean the typical desk piled high with files kind of work space. Although I do much of my writing sitting on my living room couch while my daughter is doing her homework and my husband is watching TV, I do love having a relaxed space I can retreat to when I need to fully concentrate or get through some emotional scenes, like the attack scene with Emma, in Ash to Steele. We turned my office into a writing/reading haven, complete with a couch, a swinging chair, and colorful pictures to create my idea of the perfect writing environment. I’ve included a couple of pics below .

Thank you so much for having me, and a huge thanks to the readers for taking the time to stop by! I love connecting with readers, so feel free to connect with me at any (or all) of the sites below:

Karen-Anne Stewart has always adored reading and has now fallen in love with writing. Her written works are The Rain Trilogy: Saving Rain, Healing Rain, and After the Rain, and the newly released stand alone novel, Ash to Steele. Her debut novel, Saving Rain: The First Novel in The Rain Trilogy, was a nominee for the Book Junkie’s Choice Awards, and Saving Rain and After the Rain were nominees for the 2014 RONE Awards.

When Karen-Anne isn’t writing, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, hiking, and visiting new places. She fuels her addiction of creating new stories by her only other addiction, caffeine, and listening to a myriad of musical genres. Tucked away near the Blue Ridge Mountains, Karen-Anne lives with her husband, daughter, two dogs, and their cat. She plans on writing new adult romance as long as her fingers maintain dexterity.